I know what it’s like to lose a pet a week after your birthday that both touched your heart and comforted you. I had a dwarf bunny named Freddy that was black and white. My mom and I adopted him from the Camarillo shelter. When we adopted him, the people that worked there didn’t know how old he was. They told us that his original owner didn’t give them that much information about him. We got him around Christmas and I can remember the day we got him was the day we got our christmas tree.
That night, the car smelled like christmas and I can remember Freddy breathing heavily from the movement of the car. When we first introduced him to our other bunny, Pudding, he ripped out some of his fur. I can remember Freddy having hair stick out of his mouth. When we tried to jerk it away from his mouth, he held on and wouldn’t let go. I was very upset and tried talking my mom into taking him back to the shelter. We tried everything in order for them to get along with each other by using bonding techniques. These bonding techniques included; taking them for a ride, vacuuming around them and putting them on top of a washer. The reason these techniques work is because it scares them and then they go to each other for comfort. However, it was no use. It took them at least a year to get along. One day my mom was giving Pudding a bath because of the mite situation he had. After the process of bathing him, Freddy helped groom him. That was the first time they had bonded and accepted each other as brothers.
One day Freddy was showing signs that he was sick. I could hear him sneezing from time to time and he had a nasal discharge. White stuff surrounded his nose and his eyes seemed watery. My mom called the vet and scheduled an appointment for him. She arrived with him in a kennel and spoke with Dr. Fowler. After she examined Freddy, she came back with some bad news. She had told us that Freddy had what was called a Pasteurella infection. This infection is a respiratory disease which is caused by bacteria in rabbits. It can become fatal if left untreated. So, my mom seeked medication that could treat it right away. We started to give Freddy this medication that had to be put in a syringe and he had to be on it for several months. My mom held him like a baby wrapped in a blanket whenever she gave him the medicine. At first, Freddy would lean his head back as if that were his way of saying no. But eventually he grew tired of resisting and learned to accept the awful medicine. Freddy was showing signs of improvement because he wasn’t sneezing and didn’t have a runny nose.
A few months later, I noticed Freddy wasn’t eating as much and would hang out in the same area all day. This seemed to go on for about four days. I didn’t understand why he was acting this way and what might’ve been the cause of it. At first, I thought it was because of the Pasteurella infection. Until one day when my mom arrived home from work, she saw that Freddy had been hanging out in the same spot he had been since morning. Except, he had been lying down in a way that was very unusual. His front paws were spread apart diagonally instead of just straight out in front of him. This caught her attention and as she picked him up, she noticed he had a dirty bum. Since he had a dirty bum, she decided to give him a little bath. At that moment, she sensed something very odd about him. He was acting very careless because his body was slouching. He didn’t even bother to try and leave the bathtub since he hates baths so much. My mother was very concerned and I was aware of the confusion and pain it was causing her. She was afraid that she was going to lose him. That he would no longer be in our presence. She went off to her bedroom to comfort him during what might’ve been his last moments with us.
I knew she was done snuggling with Freddy as I heard her bedroom door open. As my eyes met hers, I saw that her eyes were filled with tears. My first assumption was that Freddy had passed away. But as she made out her words she told me to go hang out with him and pray for him because she thought he was going to die. I walked towards her bedroom where I found Freddy lying down on the bed. He was very still and the only sign of movement was his nose twitching up and down. I started stroking his fur and remembered how soft the texture was. It wasn’t until I started to pray was when I caught myself crying. Tears ran down my face and I can remember asking god if Freddy could stay with us. As I prayed, I was interrupted by a sound. A sound of someone gasping for air. The sound left a terrified look on my face and as I looked up, I realized that Freddy was taking his last breaths. I started to cry even more and I became desperate for god’s help. I buried my face in my palms and the sound had finally stopped. And I knew that Freddy was no longer with us.
Overall, this event has been on my mind because I am facing another situation similar to this. My other bunny, Pudding, has a form of cancer and we are not sure how much longer he has with us. But Freddy’s situation was very different. He passed away because the vet found hair in his stomach after he died. Freddy liked to stay clean and groomed himself a lot. Unfortunately, he was injecting the hair from his body to his stomach. I believe that with every mistake there is a lesson learned. And I learned that we need to groom them daily in order to avoid situations like this. But most importantly, we should never forget to cherish each moment we spend with our loved ones.
That night, the car smelled like christmas and I can remember Freddy breathing heavily from the movement of the car. When we first introduced him to our other bunny, Pudding, he ripped out some of his fur. I can remember Freddy having hair stick out of his mouth. When we tried to jerk it away from his mouth, he held on and wouldn’t let go. I was very upset and tried talking my mom into taking him back to the shelter. We tried everything in order for them to get along with each other by using bonding techniques. These bonding techniques included; taking them for a ride, vacuuming around them and putting them on top of a washer. The reason these techniques work is because it scares them and then they go to each other for comfort. However, it was no use. It took them at least a year to get along. One day my mom was giving Pudding a bath because of the mite situation he had. After the process of bathing him, Freddy helped groom him. That was the first time they had bonded and accepted each other as brothers.
One day Freddy was showing signs that he was sick. I could hear him sneezing from time to time and he had a nasal discharge. White stuff surrounded his nose and his eyes seemed watery. My mom called the vet and scheduled an appointment for him. She arrived with him in a kennel and spoke with Dr. Fowler. After she examined Freddy, she came back with some bad news. She had told us that Freddy had what was called a Pasteurella infection. This infection is a respiratory disease which is caused by bacteria in rabbits. It can become fatal if left untreated. So, my mom seeked medication that could treat it right away. We started to give Freddy this medication that had to be put in a syringe and he had to be on it for several months. My mom held him like a baby wrapped in a blanket whenever she gave him the medicine. At first, Freddy would lean his head back as if that were his way of saying no. But eventually he grew tired of resisting and learned to accept the awful medicine. Freddy was showing signs of improvement because he wasn’t sneezing and didn’t have a runny nose.
A few months later, I noticed Freddy wasn’t eating as much and would hang out in the same area all day. This seemed to go on for about four days. I didn’t understand why he was acting this way and what might’ve been the cause of it. At first, I thought it was because of the Pasteurella infection. Until one day when my mom arrived home from work, she saw that Freddy had been hanging out in the same spot he had been since morning. Except, he had been lying down in a way that was very unusual. His front paws were spread apart diagonally instead of just straight out in front of him. This caught her attention and as she picked him up, she noticed he had a dirty bum. Since he had a dirty bum, she decided to give him a little bath. At that moment, she sensed something very odd about him. He was acting very careless because his body was slouching. He didn’t even bother to try and leave the bathtub since he hates baths so much. My mother was very concerned and I was aware of the confusion and pain it was causing her. She was afraid that she was going to lose him. That he would no longer be in our presence. She went off to her bedroom to comfort him during what might’ve been his last moments with us.
I knew she was done snuggling with Freddy as I heard her bedroom door open. As my eyes met hers, I saw that her eyes were filled with tears. My first assumption was that Freddy had passed away. But as she made out her words she told me to go hang out with him and pray for him because she thought he was going to die. I walked towards her bedroom where I found Freddy lying down on the bed. He was very still and the only sign of movement was his nose twitching up and down. I started stroking his fur and remembered how soft the texture was. It wasn’t until I started to pray was when I caught myself crying. Tears ran down my face and I can remember asking god if Freddy could stay with us. As I prayed, I was interrupted by a sound. A sound of someone gasping for air. The sound left a terrified look on my face and as I looked up, I realized that Freddy was taking his last breaths. I started to cry even more and I became desperate for god’s help. I buried my face in my palms and the sound had finally stopped. And I knew that Freddy was no longer with us.
Overall, this event has been on my mind because I am facing another situation similar to this. My other bunny, Pudding, has a form of cancer and we are not sure how much longer he has with us. But Freddy’s situation was very different. He passed away because the vet found hair in his stomach after he died. Freddy liked to stay clean and groomed himself a lot. Unfortunately, he was injecting the hair from his body to his stomach. I believe that with every mistake there is a lesson learned. And I learned that we need to groom them daily in order to avoid situations like this. But most importantly, we should never forget to cherish each moment we spend with our loved ones.